You've heard of luxury taxes, imposed on high-end items such as yachts.

Then there are sin taxes on vices like cigarettes and big gulp sodas, aimed at curbing consumption and promoting health.

Now, Westfall township supervisors are proposing a tax on fun.

They want a 1 percent tax on anything considered entertainment where admission is charged, except for movie theaters, which are exempt.

It started as a proposed tax on canoe rentals and fireworks sales.

Supervisors tried to sell it by explaining that it would mostly be paid by out-of-towners.

This week they eliminated the tax on fireworks sales and expanded the proposed tax to all entertainment.

Some in Westfall applauded the supervisors' efforts to find more money, believing this fun tax will result in lower property taxes.

But that won't happen anytime soon. Supervisors have indicated that the township budget is very tight.

If enacted, then this tax will hit middle-class Pike County; exactly the people supervisors originally said they were trying to avoid taxing.

At Delaware Valley School District, the price of admission at high school sporting events, plays and other activities will include the tax.

Will parents stay home from these events? Of course not, the tax is just another ding in the family pocketbook.

School Superintendent John Bell said, through his assistant, that the district had not seen the wording of the proposed tax and would not be able to comment.

But by taxing admission to high school football games, Westfall is targeting families.

The tax applies to other wholesome activities too: golf driving ranges, music in parks, circuses and carnival rides.

In addition to the four canoe liveries, affected businesses include Have a Hoot, an indoor recreation venue with a climbing wall, laser tag and ropes course; Malibu Dude Ranch, with its rodeos, hay rides, horseback riding and rifle range and skeet shooting; and Best Western Hunts Landing, which hosts an annual gun show, home show and other events.

"The thing that hits home for us is the gun show. If the guy who runs that incurs a 1 percent tax, he'll take his business elsewhere. It hurts everybody," said Jan Peirce, Best Western director of room sales. "If he goes away, our banquet staff doesn't have a job. It takes business away from hotels and the community."

Consumers and business owners are not the only ones affected by the fun tax.